Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest Delivers with Effective Scares

This year Fright Fest went all out with improved and impressive mazes and scare zones. To compete with the other local theme park haunts they have been continuing to up the ante and 2014 looks like they’ve hit on all cylinders. Returning mazes this year are The Aftermath, Chupacabra, Toyz of Terror 3D, Willoughby’s Resurrected and Total Darkness. The returning Scare Zones are Demon’s Door, Zombie Xing, City Under Siege, Exile Hill, Nightmares and The Wastelands. There seemed to be more monsters in both the mazes and the Scare Zones and the returning mazes all seemed to have something new done inside of all of them, making them seem fresh and relevant. The new mazes are The Willoughby’s Garden of Darkness, Red’s Revenge, and Vault 666. The new Scare Zone is Ravenstitch which is filled with creepy scarecrows and ravens. One other thing that we need to point out is that there seemed to be more sound effects throughout the park as well as more fog.

New Mazes

Willoughby’s Garden of Darkness, a dense labyrinth of man-eating plants and evil apparitions, is inhabited by Innocence, the Willoughby’s youngest daughter, who is always looking for a ghostly playmate…so keep loved ones close.

The camouflage netting inside a labyrinth garden provides great scare opportunities. The monsters blend effectively into the setting and the video apparitions found throughout the garden give this maze a creepy feel.

Enter the world of Red’s Revenge…over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house you go, but in this fairytale, guests and the wolf are hunted by Red and her demonic minions.

This is the most impressive maze that Six Flags has ever done. When you first enter the maze you’re shown on a TV how Red has turned evil. Throughout the maze you encounter characters such as the Wolf, Grandma and an evil Red. There are quite a few animatronics situated throughout the maze that would equal anything seen at Knott’s. The actors in this maze are also impressive as they stay in character and seem to know when to provide a fright.

Vault 666 is an old abandoned research facility where genetic experiments crossing humans with animals were once conducted and just recently the frightening secrets have been unearthed, exposing terror and mayhem from deep within the unsecured vault.

This maze is different from other Fright Fest mazes as it actually tells a complete story. Visitors explore a laboratory where experiments are being done on both animals and humans. After a pre-show to the maze that goes wrong, guests must find their way out of the elaborate set pieces and freakish characters. The special effects and sets have really been paid attention to in this maze, This is another maze that’s comparable to anything at Knott’s.

As far as the returning mazes, Aftermath is a post-apocalyptic themed maze that really impresses while Willoughby’s
Resurrected is one of the best “haunted house” themed mazes around.